Knife sharpener



Jam. Bill, R95@ Filed July l0, .1948

Patented Jan. 31, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE f KNIFE SHARPLNERA John J. AFiechter, Willow Grove, Pa.

Application July 10, 1948, Serial No. 38,000

2 Claims.

This invention relates to knife Sharpeners and more particularly to a knife Sharpener for household use.

The main object of my invention is to provide an extremely simple and inexpensive knife Sharpener for quickly and efficiently sharpening a knife blade.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as this description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawing wherein I` have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my novel knife sharpener.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof, and

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

My Sharpener comprises a handle I of any suitable material which may be provided at one end with a hole I I whereby the Sharpener may be hung upon a nail or hook when not in use.

At its opposite end handle IIl is ared or Widened as at I2 to provide a supporting basey of substantial width for a U-shaped frame or head, indicated generally at I3 which is fastened in an upright position on the upper face of the handle, in any suitable manner, as by the rivets I4 or equivalent fastenings.

Head I3 is preferably of one-piece construction and preferably consists of a sheet of spring metal which is bent to provide a flat bottom web I5 extending across the widened part I2 of the handle substantially from side to side thereof and a pair of spaced vertically disposed side members I6.

The side members I6 extend upwardly from said cross web I5 substantially parallel to each other for a suitable distance above the handle and are then bent outwardly in opposite directions, as at I1, to provide substantially semicircular, oppositely disposed, seats or bearings for a pair of transversely disposed, closely adjacent, sharpening rollers I8.

Rollers I8 may be of any suitable abrasive material, as carborundum, or the rollers may be of non-abrasive material and their surfaces covered with suitable abrasive material. As here shown, the surfaces of the rollers are covered by strips of emery cloth I9 or equivalent abrasive material. The rollers may be solid or tubular and are normally so positioned with reference to each other that there is just space enough between their abrasive-covered surfaces to permit a knife blade to be introduced from above and drawn therepast to sharpen the same.

For maintaining the rollers in this relationship and for permitting the rollers to be rotated by hand about their own axes whenever necessary in order to present new sharpening surfaces to the knife blade, I prefer to fasten the upright members I6 of the head together by means of a threaded bolt 20 extending across the same at substantially right angles thereto. One end of bolt 20 is anchored as at 2Ito one of the upright members I6 and the other end of said bolt extends through the opposite upright member I6 and is' provided with a wing nut 22. Obviously, however, other forms of tightening devices may be used.

Preferably, I attach to the under face of the handle I 0 somewhat in advance of the head I3 an abutment piece 23-24 for enabling the Sharpener to be placed over the edge of a table or other support S and held by one hand while a knife, held in the other hand, is being drawn past the sharpening rollers. This abutment piece is of angle construction and comprises an attaching portion 23 and an abutment portion 24 at substantially right angles thereto. The attaching portion 23 is fastened to the under face of the handle in a swiveled manner as at 25 so that after the abutment portion 24 has been placed against the table edge the handle I0 may be swung to any angle best suited for the individual when using the device.

From the foregoing descriptiontaken in connection with the drawing, it will be evident that the clamping bolt holds my sharpening rollers under suflicient pressure to make tight contact with each other and that said rollers cannot separate from each other during the sharpening action. However when it is desired to establish new sharpening surfaces, the user need only loosen the wing nut and give the rollers a very slight rotation about their axes and then retighten the assembly. This permits an infinite number of new contact surfaces to be brought into position.

Moreover, when replacement of the coverings for the rollers is necessary, such is easy to make by simply unloosening the wing nut, removing the rollers, applying new coverings in place of the worn ones, and re-assembling the parts. Such replacement coverings may be furnished as spares or the user may make his own out of a sheet of emery cloth or the like.

My Sharpener is further characterized by the fact that the opposed rollers provide touching radius points which give the effect of a hollow grind to the knife edge and leave a solid backing, rather than a thin section, for such edge.

This results in a cutting edge of added strengthv which 1s free of jags, burrs, teeth, etc., and hence will hold its sharpness for a longer time than where the blade is merly brought to a cutting edge of razor thinness and hence has a tendency to turn and becomes dull almost immediately after being put into use.

My Sharpener is further characterized in that when using it there is no need for attaching it permanently to a table or other support. To the contrary, my Sharpener can be held in one hand with the abutment piece against the table edge and the handle swiveled to the desired angle relative to the table while the knife is being drawn through the bight of the sharpening rollers with the other hand. Thus, my Sharpener is full portable. When not in use, it lmay be hung up on a hook, or placed in a drawer, etc.

In my Sharpener moreover, the operating parts are all in ixed positions when ready for use and the user does not need 'to make any allowances for loose, moveable parts vwhich might aiect the sharpening operation.

While I have shown and Adescribed a preferred form of my Sharpener, it will be understood 'that various minor changes may -be made in its design and construction within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A knife Sharpener, comprising a, flat handle member widened at one end to provide a supporting base, a head fixed to said handle member at said widened end and comprising a U-shaped member, the web of which extends transversely across the handle member and the legs of which extend upwardly therefrom in spaced apart, substantially parallel relationship, said legs at their upper ends terminating in oppositely disposed, outwardly bowed portions providing seats or bearings, a pair of sharpening rollers mounted in said seats or bearings, and a threaded bolt extending transversely across said legs and anchored at one end to one leg and at its other end provided with a nut for maintaining the rollers in xed relationship to each other.

2. The Sharpener of claim 1 and an angleshaped abutment piece fastened in a swivelling manner to the under face of said handle member in advance of said head.

JOHN J. FIECHTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in'the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

